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How was condensation water collected and stored at Biosphere 2?
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Biosphere 2
Biosphere 2, located in Oracle, Arizona, U.S., shown in 2008. The facility was originally developed to study survivability and assess whether humans were capable of building and living in self-sustaining colonies in outer space. It was later used as a scientific research facility.
At the Biosphere 2 research facility, condensation was managed as part of the climate control system located in the belowground Technosphere. More than two dozen air-handler units were responsible for regulating air temperature and humidity, which included the processes of cooling, heating, and dehumidification.1
When moisture condensed from the air within the facility, it was collected and directed to a 757,000-litre (200,000-gallon) storage tank situated below the south "lung"—one of the two large geodesic domes used to regulate air pressure. This stored water was reserved for specific operational needs, such as fire suppression.1